MY THURSDAY SANDWICH: Brisket with goats cheese

After living in St Kilda, home to Melbourne’s famous Glick’s bakery, I developed a real liking for bagels. The thick chewy dough is more filling than baked bread, and there’s a milky sweetness to them, too, which provides that smooth glazed golden shell.

One of the best bagels I have ever eaten, however, was in East London. Down the non-curry end of Brick Lane is the Brick Lane Beigel Bake where very early one morning, the husband and I devoured smoked salmon bagels and cups of hot black coffee in styrofoam cups, as we made our way home from a night out. The sparse, unfussy interior and generous fillings make this place a local institution, and if you’re ever in the area I cannot recommend it enough.

For me, cream cheese and cucumber is a firm breakfast favourite, but there’s no reason the humble bagel can’t be enjoyed for supper, too. Packed with fillings including plenty of salad, this is a satisfying pauper’s meal for when you get home late from book club and need to whip up something quick before you flick on the idiot box to watch Paxman belting cryptic mind bogglers at pasty-faced university students.